


The Book of Heathers

by queenpresident



Category: Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe, The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: Death, I'm really sorry, M/M, Suicide mention, The Heathers AU no one asked for, also one brief mention of conversion therapy, basically what you expect for a Heathers Au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 12:58:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11380662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenpresident/pseuds/queenpresident
Summary: Who is who in this AU:Veronica Sawyer - Kevin PriceJason Dean - Connor McKinleyHeather Chandler - Chris ThomasHeather Duke - Steve BladeHeather McNamara - James ChurchMartha - Arnold CunninghamRam Sweeney - Oliver Davis (Elder Davis)Kurt Kelly - Joseph Schrader (Elder Shrader)Mrs. Fleming - Mafala Hatimbi





	The Book of Heathers

**Author's Note:**

> Who is who in this AU:  
> Veronica Sawyer - Kevin Price  
> Jason Dean - Connor McKinley  
> Heather Chandler - Chris Thomas  
> Heather Duke - Steve Blade  
> Heather McNamara - James Church  
> Martha - Arnold Cunningham  
> Ram Sweeney - Oliver Davis (Elder Davis)  
> Kurt Kelly - Joseph Schrader (Elder Shrader)  
> Mrs. Fleming - Mafala Hatimbi

Connor was clutching the bomb against his chest. Kevin couldn’t stop him. He couldn’t stop crying. The redhead gave him a pained smile as tears streamed down his face. He was having trouble breathing and he couldn’t stop the bleeding.

 

“I-I’m damaged, Kevin. Far too damaged. Y-you have to understand that.”

 

“Connor, I don’t want you to go,” the boy dressed in blue cried, taking a step closer to the other. “We can fix this. Please, don’t do this.”

 

Connor shook his head and took another step back, trying to stay away from Kevin. 

 

“Connor, please!”

 

“Y-you’ll be fine. Clean up the mess I’ve made. F-fix what I’ve broken.”

 

“Connor! Listen to me! Just turn the bomb off!” Kevin pleaded. He wanted to run over to him but his feet were frozen in their place. Suddenly, memories and images flashed through his mind as the timer counted down. It was almost like his life was flashing before his eyes.

 

_ Ten seconds... _

 

Kevin was popular. He was sitting with the most popular people in the school. They were his  _ friends _ . It was so sudden and so new that he wasn’t used to it. Deep down, Kevin knew that Chris, James, and Steve were only keeping him around because his forgeries keep them out of trouble. As long as Kevin was useful, he was their friends.

 

He scanned the lunchroom as the four of them walked in, hoping to find Arnold. He felt terrible that he abandoned him to be friends with other people. Instead of finding his best friend, he spotted a redhead dressed in black sitting alone in the corner of the lunchroom. The redhead looked over at Kevin and smiled softly.  _ Oh no, he’s cute,  _ Kevin thought before turning his attention back to his friends, blushing.

 

Throughout the lunch period, Kevin and the mysterious boy in the trenchcoat kept staring at each other. It was enough that Chris would comment on it.

 

“Jesus, Kevin, stop staring at him.”

 

“Yeah, he might find it creepy,” Steve added, looking over at the stranger. He watched the stranger for a second before he frowned and went back to his conversation with James.

 

Kevin watched two guys on the football team, Oliver Davis and Joseph Schrader, stand up and walk over to the stranger. The three of them talked for a minute or so before the redhead stood up and punched Joseph. 

 

The fight was over as quickly as it started. The redhead got a few punches in, so did Oliver and Joseph before three teachers broke up the fight. The teachers escorted the three trouble-makers out of the lunchroom. The redhead looked over at Kevin as he was walking out of the room and winked at him.

 

“Holy shit,” the brown haired boy said quietly.

 

“Come on, Kevin,” Chris ordered, snapping him out of his daze. 

 

Kevin nodded and followed him out the lunchroom to do God knows what before their next classes.

 

_ Nine seconds… _

 

The thing about being popular was that Kevin was now invited to parties he could only dream about being invited to before. The downside was that there was a party almost every weekend, which meant no time to spend with Arnold. His best friend said it was okay. He always did. It wasn’t okay to Kevin, but he didn’t want to risk getting kicked out of the popular group.

 

The current party Chris was taking Kevin to was Oliver’s homecoming party. Kevin didn’t exactly  _ want _ to go—Oliver and Joseph had made so many rude comments towards Kevin and Arnold. But there he was, sitting in the passenger seat of Chris’s car in the parking lot of a 7-11.

 

“Pop tarts? You want pop tarts?” Kevin asked, looking at the blond in the driver’s seat. “Really? Now?”

 

“Yes! Strawberry pop tarts! Now hurry!” Chris answered, pushing him towards the door.

 

“Okay. Okay, I’m going,” the boy dressed in blue said, opening the car door and getting out. He slammed the door before running into the 7-11.

 

Kevin walked over to the snack area and grabbed a box of strawberry pop tarts. He stood up—and found himself face to face with the redhead from the lunchroom. Kevin jumped back in surprise, causing the other to grin.

 

“Uh, what you did back there was pretty extreme,” Kevin said. He hoped the boy would understand he was referencing the fight earlier.

 

“The extreme always seems to make an impression,” the stranger replied, obviously understanding what Kevin meant. He had a cup in his hand filled to the brim with a slushie.

 

Kevin conceded that with a nod of his head. It  _ had _ made an impression. Aloud, he asked, “I didn’t catch your name. Who are you?”

 

“Connor. Connor McKinley.”

 

“Lovely to meet you, Connor McKinley. I’m Kevin Price.” 

 

“Kevin Price, would you like a slushie?” Connor asked, holding out the cup for Kevin to take. He shook his head and pushed the slushie cup back towards Connor.

 

“You know, I’ve changed schools at least ten times since I started high school,” Connor commented, taking a sip of the slushie. “They’ve kind of started to blur together after a while. I don’t like getting to know the people since I’ll be leaving soon anyway. Why become friends if you won’t see them ever again?” Kevin didn’t know if he should leave or not—Chris was waiting for the pop tarts, after all. Still, something compelled Kevin to remain and listen to Connor’s speech.

 

Connor chuckled to himself as he continued. He seemed to have forgotten that Kevin was there. “All I can trust is this concrete oasis that is 7-11. Once you’ve been moving around as much as I have, you start to enjoy the little things, like slushies.”

 

Connor finished speaking, and somber silence fell over the 7-11. Finally, Kevin felt that he had to break it. “Oh, really? Does your mommy know you drink all the crap?” he asked in a playful tone.

 

“My mom hasn’t been around since I was a little kid,” Connor replied.

 

The blood drained from Kevin’s face and he started to apologize when a chuckle escaped from Connor’s lips. The redhead look over at Kevin with a small smile.

 

“When mom was around, everything felt normal. We didn’t travel around. We were happy. Now it’s just me and my dad. Everything started to go downhill when he caught me kissing another boy. We were kids, but that still didn’t stop him from being furious. That was when we started moving around. And I had to go to therapy.” Connor was silent for a second before adding, “No, not the kind of therapy you’re thinking of.”

 

“Oh my god,” Kevin said, his eyes widening. Holy shit.

 

“I tried turning off my feelings. I thought that it would help, but it only made things worse,” Connor said, taking another sip of the slushie. The straw made an odd sucking noise as the slushie traveled up it.

 

Connor looked like he was going to say more, but he was interrupted by a very angry Chris who grabbed Kevin’s arm and dragged him over to pay for the pop tarts. Kevin waved slightly at Connor before leaving the 7-11, Chris on his heels. Now, off to the party.

 

_ Eight seconds… _

 

This wasn't fair. It wasn't okay that they tricked Arnold into going to the party to humiliate him. Kevin knew for a fact that in Elementary school, Chris  _ insisted _ that everyone called him Poptarts because he loved them so much. But did Kevin bring that up to humiliate him? No. Instead, he threw up on him. Now Kevin was walking home, trying to figure out a way to stop Chris from casting him out on Monday. At least he didn't throw up on him in front of everyone. 

 

Kevin looked up at a window which was still on and saw Connor. It must be his house. Suddenly, an idea popped into Kevin’s head, and before he knew what he was doing, he was crawling through the window. He walked over to the bed and pulled the blanket off of Connor, waking him up.

 

"Kevin? What are you doing in my room?" Connor asked, looking up at the figure in front of him.   
  
"Sorry, but I really had to wake you. See, I decided I must ride you till I break you 'cause Poptarts says I gotta go." Not wasting any time, Kevin grabbed Connor by the shirt and kissed him.

 

“That works for me,” Connor said. He smirked.

 

_ Seven seconds… _

 

Kevin needed to go see Chris. Make sure he wasn’t still pissed at Kevin for throwing up on him at the party. He never meant to  _ kill _ him. If he knew about Connor’s plans once they got to the Thomas residence, Kevin wouldn’t have brought him along. If he looked in the mug, maybe he would have seen the drain cleaner. He could have stopped Connor from killing his  worst enemy best friend.

 

Kevin stepped into the  _ very _ red room that was Chris’s bedroom with Connor at his heels. He didn’t think about how this could be considered creepy since Chris was still asleep.  _ Too late to turn back and leave _ , Kevin thought, noticing the blond stirring.

 

“Hey, Chris? Can I talk to you?” The boy dressed in blue asked as he stood a few feet away from the bed.

 

The blond sat up and glared at him. “I hope you’re here to apologize,” he spat.

 

“Yes, I am. I’m so so sorry for last night,” Kevin replied. “And I brought you this to help with your hangover.”

 

Chris crawled out of bed and took the mug out of Kevin’s hands. He brought the mug up to his lips and drank the entire thing in one gulp. Suddenly, the shorter male started coughing and dropped the mug, his hands going up to this throat. He cried out before collapsing at Kevin’s feet. Dead. Chris Thomas was dead.

 

“Oh my god! I just killed my best friend!” Kevin exclaimed, staring at the body in front of him.

 

“And your worst enemy,” Connor commented. He had been strangely quiet throughout the whole ordeal.

 

“Same difference!” 

 

Connor calmly walked over to the vanity near Chris’s bed and pulled out a notepad and pen. The redhead walked back over to Kevin and shoved the two objects into his hands. “You need to write a suicide note.”

 

“What? No! I can't!” 

 

“Yes you can! Think. Long and hard. Conjure him up in your mind. What's his final statement to a cold, uncaring world?” 

 

Kevin looked back at the body before sitting down on the chair near the bed.  _ Dear world… _

 

Chris’s funeral was lovely. Well, except for James crying in Kevin’s arms. He didn't even realize that they were that close. Almost everyone from school was there. And they were all telling made up stories about Chris. The only story that sounded remotely true was the story James told. Even then Kevin knew some details were added to make Chris a better person. It made Kevin sick to his stomach.

 

_ Six seconds… _

 

Connor and Kevin sat in Kevin’s room on his bed as Connor held Kevin close and whispered soothing words in hopes of calming him down. Once Kevin stopped shaking, Connor pulled away and wiped the tears away.

 

“They made you cry. But they’ll pay for this,” he said with a look in his eyes that scared Kevin. This won’t be the last time he sees that same look in the redhead’s eyes.

 

“What do you mean?” The brown haired boy asked.

 

“I want you to call Oliver and Joseph. Tell them you want to meet them in the cemetery at dawn,” Connor answered, pulling out a gun from his inside pocket of the trench coat.

 

“Is that real?”

 

“Yeah, but I’m filling it with ich luge bullets. Don’t worry, it won’t kill them, just knock them out. Just long enough to embarrass them like they embarrassed you,” the redhead explained before tucking the gun back into his jacket pocket. “Call them.”

 

Kevin picked up the phone and dialed Oliver’s number. “Hey Oliver? It's Kevin.”

 

Once the meeting was set up, Connor handed Kevin a piece of paper and pen. “We can't pretend they killed themselves without a note.”

 

_ Joseph and I died because we had to hide our gay, forbidden love from a disapproving world. _

 

“Do we really need a note?” Asked Kevin, who was suddenly unsure of the plan Connor had.

 

“Yes, we need the note. They embarrassed you, so we have to do the same to them,” the redhead replied, cupping Kevin’s face with his hands before kissing him quickly. “Don't worry. It’ll be over soon.”

 

The rest of the night was a blur and Kevin was brought back to reality when he saw Oliver bleeding. 

 

“Holy crap!” Joseph screamed before he started running towards the entrance of the cemetery. 

 

“Stay here, I’ll get him,” the redhead ordered before sprinting after Joseph.

 

Kevin went over to Oliver’s body and started shaking him. “Oliver? You’re just unconscious, right?” He asked, even though he knew the answer. “Oliver?!” Kevin heard a scream and another gun shot. He stood up, wiping the blood on his pants before running towards the entrance. Kevin stopped when he saw Connor standing over Joseph’s body with the same murderous look in his eyes as before. “What the fuck have you done?!” The brown haired boy screamed.

 

_ Five seconds… _

 

“We can’t do this anymore!” Kevin yelled. “I can’t continue doing this. Connor, please. We need to stop. No more killing people.” He grabbed the redhead’s hands and squeezed them. “I just want to be a teenager. I want to be seventeen.” He had been thinking about that for a while. The moment he said it outloud, he wasn’t sure if he could stop talking about it. “Yeah, we’re damaged. But that doesn’t mean we can play god. We can’t choose who lives or dies.”

 

“Kevin-”

 

“No, Connor.  _ Please _ .” Kevin took a deep breath and looked at him. “I want to be with you, but you need to stop killing people.” He heart was pounding as he waited for Connor’s answer. He was scared that Connor would leave him. Kevin let go of the redhead’s hands and took a step back.

 

“Okay.”

 

The reply was so quiet that Kevin wasn’t even sure that he heard it. “I’m sorry, what was that?” He asked. He needed to be sure that he heard Connor.

 

“I said okay. Okay, I’ll stop. I want to be with you, too,” Connor replied with a smile, grabbing Kevin’s hands.

 

_ Four seconds… _

 

Mr. Hatimbi was holding a suicide awareness assembly with news cameras. He told everyone over and over that it was a safe space. That people could speak their minds and won’t get in trouble. The entire lunchroom was silent until James Church spoke up. He confessed that he had been having suicidal thoughts even since his boyfriend died. No one even knew he was dating anyone since he spent most of his time with Chris.

 

Everyone’s reaction to his confession was less than accepting. Especially Steve’s reaction. He was taunting his friend enough that James ran out of the room crying.

 

“You are suspended!” Mr. Hatimbi said to Steve, who just rolled his eyes in response. “Turn the cameras off. Turn them off!”

 

“Is that all you care about? TV cameras?” Kevin yelled.

 

“I care about saving lives! Steve Blade ruined a valuable tea-”

 

“Valuable?!  _ None _ of us want this!” 

 

"This is their big secret, Kevin," Chris said, appearing next to Kevin, still dressed in the same outfit he died in. "The adults are powerless."   
  
"You're useless," Kevin continued, glaring at Mr. Hatimbi and ignoring the ghost who was taunting him.   
  
"They can't help us. No one can help us," the blond continued. He looked over at the door James ran out of with a frown before glaring at Steve, even though he couldn't see the ghost.   
  
"And you're all idiots!"   
  
"You should sit down," Connor urged, reaching out and grabbing Kevin's arm.    
  
"No!" Kevin yelled as he pulled his arm out of Connor's grip. "Chris was a monster just like Oliver and Joseph and they didn't kill themselves I killed them!" It took him a second to realize what he just admitted to as the color drained from his face.    
  
The entire room was silent until Steve started laughing. Quickly, the rest of the students joined in with the laughter. "Some people will say anything if it think it'll make them popular!" Steve exclaimed.   
  
Horrified at the events that just took place, Kevin ran out of the room. Connor called out his name and followed him out of the room.

 

_ Three seconds… _

Connor has gotten scarier and more dangerous ever since the incident involving Oliver Davis, Joseph Schrader, and ich luge bullets. Kevin thought he could change. He promised he would change. But Chris’s ghost thought otherwise. Turns out, the ghost was right. 

Kevin only had a few seconds to run upstairs and lock the bedroom door. He spun around to see the redhead standing near his window with a devilish grin on his face.

 

“Sorry for coming in through the window. Dreadful etiquette, I know!” 

“Get out of my house!” The brown haired boy ordered, causing the other the chuckle. “I’ll scream and my parents will come upstairs and find you! Get out!”

“All is forgiven baby! Come on, we have a pep rally to go to,” Connor said and started to walk towards Kevin slowly, like he was approaching an animal, with a piece of paper in his hands. Kevin darted towards the closet and slammed the door, leaning against it. “Hiding in the closet? Come on, Kev, you’re better than that!”

“Get out!” He repeated, sounding a lot like a broken record.

“Open the door, Kevin.”

“No!”

“We’re going to be late to the pep rally! You’re going to miss what I have planned!” 

Kevin didn’t want to know what Connor was talking about. He knew it was going to be something bad. Like killing Steve. Or James. Or both. No, this couldn’t be happening. No more deaths. Connor couldn’t continue on the path he was on. Kevin thought he stopped him. He really did.

“You’re going to love it. You see, our classmates thought they were signing a petition. This is what they really signed,” Connor’s voice sounded muffled through the door. “It says, ‘We, the students of Westerburg High will die …’”

Kevin listened in horror as Connor recited the petition/death warrant. This couldn’t be happening. Nobody else deserved to die. His heart pounded in his chest, thudding along with each word.

“‘Your society churns out slaves and blanks …’” Though muffled, the emotion in Connor’s voice was obvious:  a mixture of contempt for the people he hated and delight for their coming demise.

What was he supposed to do? Kevin felt his whole body trembling. How much longer was Connor going to be talking? How much longer did he have? He sank down and pressed his fingers against his head in an effort to think.

“‘Goodbye.’” With an air of completion, Connor’s words came to a halt. It took Kevin a moment to realise Connor was done reciting the death warrant their classmates had signed. “They’re all going to die. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Kevin shook his head, though he knew Connor couldn’t see him. This couldn’t be real, but it was. He didn’t answer Connor; he couldn’t. Connor waited a couple seconds, hoping he could answer.

“Kevin, open the door! Right now!” Connor yelled, pounding on the closet door.

Kevin leaned against the door, trying to keep it closed as tears streamed down his cheeks. He covered his ears with his hands, trying to block out Connor’s voice.

“Kevin! Open the goddamn door!” The redhead continued pounding on the door. There was still no answer. 

 

“Kevin, please!” 

 

The closet was silent. Suddenly, Kevin stood up and wasn’t thinking as his body went through the motions. He couldn’t believe that Connor pushed him far enough to fake his own suicide. Maybe if Connor thought he was dead, he’d call the whole thing off. Kevin could only hope that could happen has he wrapped the fabric around his torso before covering it up with his blue blazer.

 

“I’m going to count to three!” Connor sounded panicked. Kevin needed to hurry up. 

 

“One!” 

 

Oh god, Kevin was almost done.

 

“Two!”

 

Connor needed to calm down.

 

“Fuck it!” 

 

The closet door swung open to reveal Kevin hanging there. 

 

“Oh god! Kevin,” Connor fell to his knees, crumpling the death warrant in one hand. “Please don’t leave me alone.” 

 

He was crying and hugging Kevin’s legs. It was getting harder for Kevin to pretend he wasn’t breathing.

 

“You were all I could trust. I can’t do this without you.” 

 

Kevin hoped that meant that Connor would stop this madness. His hope died as Connor continued.

 

“Still I will if I must!” The redhead cried, hugging Kevin’s legs even tighter.

 

“Kevin?” His mother’s voice brought Connor out of his daze. “Kevin? Is someone up there with you?” His mother must have heard Connor. Her voice was getting louder, which meant she was almost at his room. Connor wasn’t moving and Kevin considered kicking him but that would give him away. “Kevin, sweetheart?”

 

Connor finally came to his senses and stood up, glancing at Kevin one last time before running over to the window and climbing out. Kevin’s mother walked into the room and over to the open closet door and screamed when she saw her son. Kevin looked up at his mother and unwrapped the material from his torso before running over to his mother. 

 

“I’m sorry! It was just a prank!” He explained, hugging her tightly.

 

“Well it’s not very funny!” She exclaimed.

 

_ Two seconds… _

 

Kevin was late to the pep rally by a couple of minutes. He wasn't sure when Connor was planning to blow up the school but he needed to act fast. He knew what he had to do to stop him and hated the very thought of it. He walked into the school and into the gym where the pep rally was held. Kevin knew he had to start searching for Connor, he just couldn't think of where to start. Unfortunately, he wasn't left with a lot of time to think since Mr. Hatimbi walked up to him.

 

“Kevin? Connor McKinley told me you just committed suicide.”

 

“Yeah? Well, he's wrong about a lot of things,” Kevin replied. “Mr. Hatimbi, what's under the gym?” 

 

“The boiler room.”

 

Kevin nodded and thanked Mr. Hatimbi before starting his search for the boiler room. He quickly finds it and pushes open the doors his heart pounding. He slowly and carefully walked down the stairs to find Connor already there, placing a bomb. 

 

“Turn off the bomb,” Kevin quietly ordered. 

 

The redhead stood up and faced him, wearing the same devilish grin as before. “I thought you were done faking suicides,” he commented.

 

“I said turn it off!”

 

Connor growled and pulled out his gun, pointing it at Kevin. “You don't understand, Kev. The only place different social groups can get along is in Heaven! And I'm going to send them there.”

 

“Connor, please,” he pleaded as he slowly and carefully walked towards him. “Turn off the bomb. No one here deserves to die.” Kevin darted forward and knocked the gun out of Connor’s hand. They both dove for it but Kevin managed to kick the redhead out of his way and grab the gun. He stood up and pointed the gun at Connor. “How do I turn it off?” 

 

Connor shook his head and started laughing. Instead of answering, he tried to take the gun out of Kevin’s grip. The two struggled over it before Kevin’s finger slipped and he shot Connor. The brown haired boy screamed in horror as the other fell to the ground. No time to mourn now. He needed to get the bomb out of the school.

 

Kevin carefully unwrapped the tape that was holding it up and clutched it close to his chest as he ran up the stairs and onto the football field. His blazer was partially ripped from his fight with Connor. Even worse, he had Connor’s blood on his grey pants.  _ The irony in this is that I never got to write my own suicide note,  _ Kevin thought bitterly as he looked down at the timer. 2 minutes left. He looked up at the school and saw Connor limping towards him.

 

“Look at how brave you are. So willing to die for everyone in the school,” Connor commented and stopped in front of Kevin. He reached out with one hand, the other trying to stop the bleeding from where he got shot, and took the bomb away from Kevin while taking multiple steps back.

 

Connor was clutching the bomb against his chest. Kevin couldn't stop him.

 

_ One second… _

 

The last thing Kevin saw before the bomb went off was Connor’s pained smile. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this!  
> And a big thank you to my cousin, Fritz, who edited and added some important details. I couldn't have done this without his help.


End file.
